Tag Archives: Kirk Nieuwenhuis

David Wright, Andres Torres and Jason Bay have all missed games because of injuries, but for the most part manager Terry Collins has resisted any urge to crazy juggle his line-up, something Jerry Manuel did on a consistent basis.

Johan Santana will make his third start of the season tonight. Here’s the line-up behind him:

Serves me right for guessing. I posted earlier I didn’t think Jason Bay would play tonight in Atlanta, but he’s in there. From what I heard, I didn’t think he would be ready, but after testing his hand he was able to grip the bat so he’s good to go.

David Wright gave it a go and will be in the lineup this afternoon at Philadelphia. For five days Terry Collins expressed optimism Wright would be able to play, but also admitted the DL was a possibility.

There is a risk to Wright playing today, which is if Wright aggravates the injury and does go on the DL the Mets would have lost five days in the process.

If his pinkie feels better today, it would probably improve over the next couple of days. I believe the Mets are taking a risk.

When David Wright was injured during spring training, manager Terry Collins said if he opened the season on the disabled list that Daniel Murphy would stay at second base.

MURPHY: Makes sparkling play Monday

Now, with Wright seemingly headed to the DL (the move should be made Friday), Collins seems to be sticking by those words as Murphy is still at second for this afternoon’s game against Washington.

Murphy is a natural third baseman, but his position is second base as long as Wright is here and moving him won’t help him learn the position. Murphy botched a double-play grounder last night, but the night before made a nice play behind the bag.

Murphy is not a strong defensive player, but learning the position will take some time. He’s not going to master it quickly, and he certainly won’t do so by moving around.

Collins made a point of saying Murphy and Lucas Duda would remain at their positions despite being stronger elsewhere, and let’s hope he sticks by his word.

A common thread among all contenders is a strong home-grown core. Teams augment themselves with trades and free-agent signings, but the foundation comes from within.

With the exception of left fielder Jason Bay, last night’s line-up was a production of the farm system. Josh Thole, Ike Davis, Daniel Murphy, Ruben Tejada, David Wright, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Lucas Duda and Mike Pelfrey all came from below.

Ideally, a team wants to add one player a year from its minor league system, much the way the Yankees did during their run during the 1990s and early 2000s. When you re-visit how the championship teams of 1969 and 1986 were built, the foundation came from the minor leagues.

A team building from within gains the added benefit of economic stability and cost certainty. In today’s economic structure, and considering the Mets’ financial stresses, building this way should enable them to be aggressive in the free-agent market in the next few seasons.

The Mets are under $100 million for 2012 for their payroll, and hope to have more relief when the contracts for Bay and Johan Santana expire over the next two years. Ideally, they’d like to trade both, but that’s highly unlikely consider their injury history and performance. Freed from a long-term obligation to Jose Reyes, the Mets’ next major contractual decision is whether to extend David Wright.

Things definitely appear brighter today then they did at the start of spring training when the organization had the Ponzi scandal looming over their head. Despite being on the hook for a potential $162 million – far better than the $1 billion it could have been – the Mets have reason to believe the worst is behind them.

Because the agreement stipulates the Mets don’t have to pay any of their settlement for three years, if they continue to play well they should benefit from an increased attendance.